Calidris himantopus

Free Introduction Article Access

The Introduction Article is just the first of 11 articles in each species account that provide life history information for the species. The remaining articles provide detailed information regarding distribution, migration, habitat, diet, sounds, behavior, breeding, current population status and conservation. Each species account also includes a multimedia section that displays the latest photos, audio selections and videos from Macaulay Library’s extensive galleries. Written and continually updated by acknowledged experts on each species, Birds of North America accounts include a comprehensive bibliography of published research on the species.

A subscription is needed to access the remaining account articles and multimedia content. Rates start at $5 USD for 30 days of complete access.

Figure 1. Distribution of the Stilt Sandpiper.

Distribution of the Stilt Sandpiper in North and Central America and the Caribbean. This species’ main wintering grounds are in South America (see Fig. 2); wintering north of South America may be of recent origin. See text for details.

Stilt Sandpiper has a fairly distinctive bill shape among North American shorebirds, being longish and distinctly droop-tipped. In breeding plumage, the chestnut ear coverts and crown are striking. The following is a link to this photographer's website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysbirds/.

The Stilt Sandpiper breeds exclusively in low-arctic and subarctic areas of North America and winters mainly in the interior of central South America. This medium-sized wader was once considered the unique extant representative of the genus Micropalama, which was characterized by having exceptionally long legs, partly webbed toes, and a long bill with an expanded tip (
Baird, S. F., T. M. Brewer and R. Ridgway. (1884). The waterbirds of North America. Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard Univ. 13:1-549.
Baird et al. 1884). However, none of these characters is unique; all are found in other members of the large genus Calidris, where this species is currently classified (
Jehl, Jr., J. R. (1973a). Breeding biology and systematic relationships of the Stilt Sandpiper. Wilson Bulletin 85:115-147.
Jehl 1973a,
American Ornithologists' Union (1983). Check-list of North American Birds, 6th ed. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA.
American Ornithologists' Union 1983).

The Stilt Sandpiper's breeding behavior is that of a typical monogamous calidridine sandpiper. Ecologically, however, it differs from most congeners in that it avoids tidal mudflats in favor of pools or lagoons, where it forages in belly-deep water.

Although described as distinctive early in the nineteenth century (“it cannot even at first sight be mistaken for any other Tringa";
Bonaparte, C. L. (1826). Further additions to the ornithology of the United States; and observations on the nomenclature of certain species. Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N.Y. 2:157.
Bonaparte 1826: 57), the Stilt Sandpiper remained largely unknown to ornithologists or even to gunners, who called it the Bastard Yellowlegs because of its suspected intermediacy, or perhaps hybrid origin, between dowitchers (Limnodromus spp.) and yellowlegs (Tringa spp.). Other 19th-century gunning names included Stilted Sandpiper, Mongrel, Long-legged Sandpiper, and Frost Snipe.

In spring, this sandpiper's main migration route brings it northward through northern-central South America, across the Great Plains and western Prairie Provinces, to arctic Canada and Alaska. Its fall migration has several pulses, beginning in early July with adult females, followed later by adult males, and finally by juveniles. Its main southward route also passes through mid-continent, west of the Mississippi River. Quill Lakes in Saskatchewan (
Alexander, S. A. and C. Gratto-Trevor. (1997). Shorebird migration and staging at a large prairie lake and wetland complex: the Quill Lakes, Saskatchewan. Ottawa: Can. Wildl. Serv. Occas. Pap. no. 97. Environ. Canada.
Alexander and Gratto-Trevor 1997) and Cheyenne Bottoms in Kansas (International Shorebird Surveys [ISS]) are major concentration points both in spring and in fall. From there, in fall the species migrates over water to the Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico:
Wunderle, Jr., J. M., R. B. Waide and J. Fernandez. (1989). Seasonal abundance of shorebirds in the Jobos Bay Estuary in southern Puerto Rico. J. Field. Ornithol. 60:329-339.
Wunderle et al. 1989,
Collazo, J. A., B. A. Harrington, J. S. Grear and J. A. Colon. (1995). Abundance and distribution of shorebirds at the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats, Puerto Rico. Journal of Field Ornithology 66 (3):424-438.
Collazo et al. 1995) or northern South America (Suriname:
Spaans, A. L. (1978a). Status and numerical fluctuations of some North American waders along the Surinam coast. Wilson Bulletin 90:60-83.
Spaans 1978a), where many birds interrupt their migration to molt flight-feathers before continuing to winter haunts in inland central South America. Small numbers migrate in fall along the mid-Atlantic Coast from Long Island, NY, to Virginia.